Egypt's Ongoing Struggle

On July 1, 2013 Egypt's first democratically elected president, Mohammed Morsi, had two choices, give Egypt's citizens what they've been promised for a year now, or allow for new elections. Morsi did not budge and was taken out of office by military force. When Morsi was first elected in June 2012, "He promised to lead a government  'for all Egyptians'" and changed Egypt's Constitution to give him sole power. Since then, many Egyptian's have claimed Morsi hasn't delivered what he promised, like stabilizing the economy and protecting "rights and social justice". Another aspect to Morsi's short rule was that he had deep roots in the Muslim Brotherhood which is the Arab world's largest Islamic political group.

For thirty years prior to Morsi's presidency, Egypt was under the dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak. Mubarak supported the 1979 peace treaty with Israel and also helped Egypt's economy grow. Further into Mubarak's rule, more political parties were formed and they were even allowed to compete against Mubarak for presidency, like the Muslim Brotherhood. During Mubarak's rule, Egypt seemed to be a somewhat 'stable state'. To the United States, Mubarak was a strong and reliable leader in a country that was surrounded with instability, "Hosni Mubarak was an ideal partner for the United States, as long as Washington focused on stability in the present without much thought about long-term implications," says Middle East analyst, Marina Ottaway. 

During Mubarak's rule, the Muslim Brotherhood continued to grow and gain more and more supporters and activists. Slowly Mubarak stopped meeting his own people's needs. Health and education services were not reformed and he made constitutional amendments to make sure his son took over after him. Egypt's military and citizens started getting irritated that nothing was being done for them anymore, and Mubarak seemed to be making decisions that only benefitted him or his government. "The armed forces...clearly objected to an inheritance of power and the idea of a non-military man as their commander-in-chief." In 2011 after months of protests, killings, and riots to overthrown Mubarak, the military eventually unseated him and Mubarak was jailed.

Fast forward to 2012 after months of instability, and Mohammed Morsi became Egypt's first freely elected president. As mentioned earlier, Morsi's presidency only lasted one year. Many of Egypt's citizens were still Mubarak supporters and didn't agree with the Muslim Brotherhood and how Morsi appointed many of his "brothers" to office. Morsi didn't fix Egypt's failing economy, and didn't provide Egyptians with jobs. Freedom and social justice wasn't fixed either. "While he failed to broaden his appeal and build any kind of national consensus, he also faced an active campaign by those hostile to his leadership, including some of the wealthiest and most powerful pillars of the Mubarak era." All of this lead to more protests and eventually Morsi was unseated, just like Mubarak. 

Having a democratically elected president after months of turmoil seemed like Egypt was on the right track towards becoming a stable state again. But with so many religious and political differences within Egypt, it's back in the hands of its military and its future is uncertain.